What The Hell Just Happened?!

All employees fall somewhere on the skill versus will matrix, which is a tool that can help you objectively make tough decisions with employees. You have your ideal employees (those that can and will and those that can't and will), and then you have your less-than-ideal employees (those that can and won't and those that can't and won't). Have you ever stopped to think about where all of your employees land? From there, what to do with those that fall in the less-than-ideal category? Join Paul Edwards and CeCe Wilson in this week's episode of What the Hell Just Happened?! as they go over the skill vs. will matrix and how to decide when it's time to coach, train, or fire, depending on where each employee falls.

The internet seems to hate cover letters - with many people discussing how employers who require a cover letter in the application process are toxic or how no one reads the cover letter, there’s a lot of reasoning as to why you may be questioning the importance of the cover letter in your own hiring process. CeCe Wilson, CEDR’s Human Resources Manager, breaks down why you don’t need a cover letter to hire the right candidate, and how to get valuable information during the hiring process in other ways. This week, episode 92 of What the Hell Just Happened?! is about how to approach the cover letter request in the hiring process.   You can view the complimentary Hygiene Course here. You can check out our Hiring Guide here.   Better workplaces make better lives.    Our podcast sponsor, CEDR HR Solutions, knows there’s a better, easier way to HR. With our industry-leading approach, we support over 3,000 small and medium businesses across the country through custom handbooks, one-on-one HR coaching, and education. From HIPAA training to our expansive software, BackstageHR, our affordable and tailored approach enables you to address any issue with ease.   In this episode of What the Hell Just Happened?!, CEDR CEO and Founder Paul Edwards is joined by CeCe Wilson to share the importance of a phone screening during your hiring process and actionable steps you can take to gather important information from a potential hire without a cover letter.   Paul Edwards and CeCe Wilson also discuss:   What the internet is saying about employers who require a cover letter  Where they stand on requiring cover letters - and if CeCe reads them The importance of phone screenings and skills tests in the hiring process   If you are a business owner or an office manager looking to simplify your HR process and you are not already subscribed to our HR Insider Newsletter, you need to click here to start receiving the most current, updated information for your office.   Be sure to tune in every other Tuesday and listen to past episodes to get informed about tons of HR tips and best practices.    Thank you for listening! If you enjoyed today’s episode, please make sure to share this episode on LinkedIn or with your team, and don’t forget to follow, share and rate the show on your preferred listening platform.    Email questions or comments for Paul at podcast@wthjusthappened.com   You can connect with us here:   Website   LinkedIn   Instagram   Facebook  

Telling an employee that they smell bad is a tough and rather personal conversation that many office managers and owners avoid. Whether you’ve had patients or other employees complain, or have noticed the odor yourself, it can be tricky to tell an employee that they stink. Grace Godlasky, CEDR’s Solution Center Manager, is on the podcast today to discuss her new complimentary HR education course: The Clean Conversation. This week, episode 91 of What the Hell Just Happened?! is about how to tell your employees they stink - and why you should handle the conversation with compassion.   You can download the complimentary Hygiene Course here.   Better workplaces make better lives.    Our podcast sponsor, CEDR HR Solutions, knows there’s a better, easier way to HR. With our industry-leading approach, we support over 3,000 small and medium businesses across the country through custom handbooks, one-on-one HR coaching, and education. From HIPAA training to our expansive software, BackstageHR, our affordable and tailored approach enables you to address any issue with ease.   In this episode of What the Hell Just Happened?!, CEDR CEO and Founder Paul Edwards is joined by Grace Godlasky to share the importance of handling hygiene conversations at the office with compassion and actionable steps you can take to have the conversation around smells with your employees.   Paul Edwards and Grace Godlasky also discuss:   Medical and other life reasons an employee may smell, and the need for compassion with each conversation around hygiene Protected reasons someone may smell, and how to still enforce good hygiene in your practice Interesting real-life examples of smelly employees and how their hygiene was handled   If you are a business owner or an office manager looking to simplify your HR process and you are not already subscribed to our HR Insider Newsletter, you need to click here to start receiving the most current, updated information for your office.   Be sure to tune in every other Tuesday and listen to past episodes to get informed about tons of HR tips and best practices.    Thank you for listening! If you enjoyed today’s episode, please make sure to share this episode on LinkedIn or with your team, and don’t forget to follow, share and rate the show on your preferred listening platform.    Email questions or comments for Paul at podcast@wthjusthappened.com   You can connect with us here:   Website   LinkedIn   Instagram   Facebook

Talking about the EEOC and the businesses they go after has become a regular occurrence on What The Hell Just Happened?! This episode is no exception. There are several ways sexual harassment can show up within your workplace, and Monroe Auto had to learn this lesson the hard way by paying out a large settlement. Listen to Paul Edwards as he sits down with CeCe Wilson and Amanda Rishor to discuss what happened and how it could have been stopped before it even started.

Giving your employees in-house treatment as a benefit of employment is common, and a great way to increase employee retention! However, there are a lot of things to consider, especially when it comes to billing and how insurance carriers see things. Listen when Harley Hartliep and Paul Edwards sit down and talk about it in this week's episode of What the Hell Just Happened?!

Events outside of work are super common, and sometimes even encouraged. Hosting your employees for after-work drinks or holiday parties to show appreciation is nice. However, are you inviting employees to these in the right way? A post on Reddit went viral where an employee felt pressured to go to the events outside of working hours as if their position in the company would be in jeopardy if they didn’t attend. Remember, if it feels required, then it is required. Listen to Paul Edwards and Ally Dagnino unpack this situation in this week’s episode.

How are performance evaluations done at your business? Everyone all at once? On each employee’s yearly employment anniversary? Which method do you think is best? Performance evaluations can be done in several different ways to match the needs of whatever business the employees belong to. However, doing them all at once at the same time each year can make it rough on not only the person giving the reviews but also the employees themselves. Listen to Jennie McLaughlin and CeCe Wilson as they take over the mic this week to talk about best practices around performance reviews.

Age discrimination is high on the list of everyday occurrences in the workforce. Forcing an older employee to retire, looking for “fresh out of college” applicants, and more can quickly land your business in the danger zone in the eyes of the EEOC. In this week’s episode of What the Hell Just Happened?! Listen to Paul Edwards and CeCe Wilson talk about the risks involved with this touchy subject, and how to ensure you don’t land in a place where the EEOC will be looking at you.

Conflict is everywhere and comes in many forms. In the workplace, it can bring down the entire vibe of your practice, and your patients will feel that shift too. What do you do, as a manager or owner, when employees approach you about conflict that they can’t seem to solve themselves? What steps do you take? Listen to this week’s episode to hear what Paul Edwards and Moriah Ochoa sit down and talk about it.

In this episode, we give managers payroll heartburn over bonuses and commission payments. Did you know that bonuses and commissions affect hourly wages and cause the need to adjust past pay for overtime? “What I need you to know, and this is the mindblowing part, is that when an employee works the first quarter of a year and earns a bonus or commission at the end of that quarter if they have worked any overtime during that first quarter where the bonus was subject to -  YOU  have to go back and look at the overtime hours and add that bonus into the overtime hours. You owe them more money. Not only do you owe the commission/bonus, but now that you know how much they earned, you need to go back and adjust their overtime pay.”

One trend in the world of HR right now is that employers are using social media to look up the people applying to your workplace. For years now we’ve been telling our HR Community that there are intrinsic issues with doing so. The prevailing thinking is that it gives you the chance to see if the person you are thinking about hiring is “normal”? but the problem is, you may also or only come up with things that you don’t want to find. Listen to Jennie McLaughlin and CeCe Wilson in this week’s episode to hear why we advocate against this practice.

Recently, there was a court case about one employee claiming the use of the requested pronouns of another employee went against their religion, so they would not do it. What would you do if you were an employer in this situation? The answer is trickier than you think. Our main guidance: engage in the interactive process. Listen to Paul Edwards, Nora Gustafson, and Amanda Rishor sit down to unpack this issue and the best way to handle it as an employer.

Recently, Crumbl Cookies found themselves in trouble with the Department of Labor for violating child labor laws. This issue is more common than you may think, as many states have specific laws surrounding minors having jobs. If you are considering hiring a minor this summer, listen to Paul Edwards, Kristen Hof, and Amanda Rishor talk about the various things to remember when you decide to bring a child on as an employee.

One thing we constantly get asked about by our community of over 10,000 practice owners and managers is how to handle employees traveling for a work event. Do you need to pay them for the entire time? Can you restrict their drinking? What about rooming employees together to save some money on hotel costs? Listen as Paul Edwards and Michelle Richards discuss this popular topic and answer some of your most asked questions.

One of our employees recently went to a concert where the show's opener gave out a feedback form. Of course, as HR nerds, this inspired us to talk about the always asked about topic: giving feedback to employees. Most people want feedback, but there are right and wrong ways to go about it. Listen to Paul Edwards, Kristen Hof, and Amanda Rishor talk about why you shouldn’t be afraid to give feedback to employees and what the benefits of those conversations are (if you aren’t giving them feedback, they will start making it up in their head). 

A good amount of states out there have now legalized cannabis for recreational purposes along with medical. Employers are increasingly facing employees coming into the office smelling like weed. Even if they do not seem impaired (if they do, that is an entirely different issue), there are steps you can take to ensure the smell is not present in your office. Listen to this week’s episode, where Paul, Nora, and Amanda sit down to discuss what to do when facing this situation.

Have you heard the term “hire slow, fire fast”? It’s making its way through the world of content catered to employers lately, and Paul Edwards and Moriah Ochoa wanted to sit down and talk about it. Is there any truth to it? What exactly does it mean? Listen to this week’s episode to hear their thoughts on the entire concept and how they suggest you interpret the increasingly popular phrase.

If you’re an employer in today’s working environment, there is no doubt that you’ve heard of burnout... Maybe even experienced it yourself! But what is burnout? Can it be prevented? How do you address it? Listen to Paul Edwards sit down with CeCe Wilson and Amanda Rishor to discuss burnout in the workplace and how to approach it with all different generations of employees.

The Kardashians have done it again… and by that, we mean allegedly violating employment laws. This time, the conversation focuses on Khloe Kardashian and how she treated her personal assistant, who is now attempting to sue her for breaking California Labor Laws. Join Paul Edwards, Jennie McLaughlin, and Amanda Rishor as they talk about the crazy world of the Kardashians and how HR seems to find its way into it all (doesn’t it always?).

Paying $400k in back wages…sound like something you’d want to have to do? Classifying employees incorrectly is extremely common in several fields of business. Having employees who are incorrectly classified, either as exempt or non-exempt, has caused problems for thousands of companies throughout the years. In this week’s episode of What The Hell Just Happened?! Listen to Paul Edwards and Michelle Richard discuss what happened to two businesses, one smaller and one large, after they were discovered by the Department of Labor to be incorrectly classifying some employees.